(Pregabalin) Side effect: Seizures

[Ignio]

Hi.

As most of you know Lyrica (Pregabalin) is used as an anti-epileptic drug (amongst other things).

However, some of the more rare side effects of Lyrica are rhythmic movement of the muscles, muscle twitching or jerking and even seizures according to different pages about Lyrica and its side effects - one of them I know is very credible and reliable. It is the page that Danish doctors use as a standard page about all medication. It includes a version to patients and a version to professionals.

The reason I am writing is that I have been taking Lyrica yesterday and today - 50 mg taken three times during the day (150 mg in total) . I experienced an increase in muscle twitching, jerks and tics. A couple of years ago I had a grand mal seizure despite being on Lyrica. Today I had to take 5 mg Diazepam and 2 mg Clonazepam before the muscle twitching and tics stopped. I have epilepsy and I take one anti-epileptic medicin combined with Clonazepam (sometimes I get clonazepam, sometimes I get diazepam, thus I have both available).

Is it just a coincidence or something psychological? I haven't been able to find much on PubMed about these rare side effects. Have someone else experienced seizure or similar side effects due to Lyrica? Lyrica is the only thing different from my daily methadone and clonazepam that can explain muscle twitching. Having experienced it two times (three if you include the seizure years ago) does not form a foundation to conclude any causality though, thus I wish to know if others have experienced similar side effects while taking Lyrica.

It is quite paradoxical if an anti-epileptic drug is causing an increase in symptoms related to epilepsy.

 

[Keif' Richards]

You've touched on a pretty important point. Pregabalin (Lyrica) has some pretty interesting, some would say, paradoxical effects that many are unaware of. As an anti-convulsant, you really wouldn't expect Pregabalin to produce tics, twitches and spasms but it can. I experience the same symptoms. It's the same with Gabapentin for that matter. There is a limit to how much Pregabalin I can take within a 24 hour period and if I overdo it, I experience some pretty serious side-effects ranging from minor tics to not being able to walk because I can't control these insane full-body twitches.

I have had a hard time finding people who share the same experience as most people can take huge doses of both Gabapentin and Pregabalin without experiencing side effects like this. Just for reference's sake, does above 600mg without previous tolerance are enough to cause the tics for myself.

 

[Ignio]

I experienced tics with a dosage of only 150 mg. Apparently I react strongly to the chemical. Also considered how much benzodiazepine I had to take to get rid of the side effects. But it is gratifying to find out that I am not the only one who experience these apparently rare side effects from Lyrica.

At least it seems to be a rare side effect as I can find no empirical research on the topic. However, as I stated before, seizures is listed as a rare side effect so it must be known that Lyrica itself can cause seizures and tics.

I am feeling extremely uncomfortable when I am taking Lyrica, the muscle side effects is supplemented with brain zaps that feel almost like zaps you can experience from taking too much MDMA (Serotonin related).

I haven't taken anymore Lyrica since, but I am gonna try again in a few days just to see if the side effects appear every time.

I have been considering trying Phenibut, but as the two chemicals are similar, I might experience the same side effects from this?

 

[Keif' Richards]

^But, they're not actually seizures in my experience and from the sound of it, yours either. I actually ended up seeing a Neurologist regarding my problem, because I was at the time, prescribed Pregabalin (Lyrica) and it was helping me greatly. I didn't want to stop due to what, at the time, were occasional side-effects. They didn't know what to refer to my issue as, so they just refer to it as Myoclonus or Myoclonic Jerking. I'm also like you in that Benzodiazepines arrest the symptoms immediately, every time.

It takes as little as 2mg of Diazepam (Valium) to get the Myoclonus to stop for me. 2mg of Diazepam would, on a normal day, not even be perceptible to me. I can't speak specifically to Phenibut as I've only experimented with it a handful of times, but Gabapentin (Neurontin), which shares a high degree of cross-tolerance with Pregabalin has exactly the same effect. If I cross a certain threshold, I know that I will experience the violent tics.

I require doses much more significant than 150mg Pregabalin though. My side-effects usually kick in around 600mg-800mg, so I can utilize more reasonable doses without having to worry about the Myoclonus.

 

[Ignio]

I have experienced one full blown grand mal epileptic seizure after taking Lyrica. However, the dosage was much bigger. And at that time, my epilepsy was untreated, so it might as well have happened without Lyrica.

I have no Lyrica tolerance what so ever. I haven't taken it for a very long time, thus I started carefully with 50 mg three times a day. But having no tolerance might account for how little I need to take to experience side effects.

Lyrica actually helps me as well, thus I don't know if I wish to quit taking it. I already take 0,5 mg clonazepam each day, so far 0,5 mg has not been enough to stop the side effects from Lyrica completely but if I decide to continue on Lyrica I might increase my clonazepam dose to 2 mg until I get more used to Lyrica which will hopefully result in less side effects. The benefits I have experienced from Lyrica have been significant, so I think it is worth increasing my benzo dose for a short time so I can continue taking Lyrica.